Live fire helps officials train for aircraft disaster

Michael J. Mullen / TIMES-SHAMROCK
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport employees along with airport representatives from Reading, Binghamton and Williamsport and Avoca, Greenfield and Hughestown fire companies train with an aircraft fire simulator at the airport.

PITTSTON TWP. - Flames scorched a red fuselage to a black husk at Gate 22 of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.

Echo-3, the airport's E-1 Titan, rolled up to the inferno and unleashed a torrent of water. Firefighters moved slowly in a tight column with a single hose and cut a sizzling swath through walls of fire to reach the flaming plane. The smell of fuel mixed with the screams of those trapped in the aircraft.

But the smell was propane, not jet fuel, and the screams were an electronic recording. On Friday, representatives from four regional airports, including Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International, and three local volunteer fire departments battled live fire to train for an aircraft disaster.

Jack Davis, the airport's lead firefighter, said such intense training is a necessity. The flames and screams immerse the firefighters in the confusion of an aircraft fire.

"We don't go through this every day," Davis said.

The airport has hosted the Kellogg Fire Training Simulator for the past 10 years so airport emergency personnel and fire departments could train locally. The Federal Aviation Administration requires every airport firefighter to undergo eight hours of live training each year, but in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's case there are only two firefighters employed, meaning they have a heavy reliance on the mutual aid of area fire departments, airport public safety director George Bieber said.

Though the training uses live fire, the flow of propane is remotely controlled in case anything goes wrong. In the past 10 years the only medical concern they've had has been heat exhaustion on a 100 degree July, 2011 day, Bieber said.

"It's like you stuck your head in an oven," Davis said, describing the heat. "On broil."

After the firefighters reached the fuselage, a handful carefully stepped inside while the rest held the flames at bay.

Several tense minutes passed and the fuselage caught fire again before crews doused it with water.

At last, the screaming stopped and the group exited the smoke, another run complete.

"Those guys have been through it and know what to do," Bieber said.

jkohut@timesshamrock.com, @jkohutTT

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